Prince Harry's phone hacking case against The Sun's publisher and claim of 'secret agreement' between Buckingham Palace and the Press is thrown out by a judge - but other alleged illegal activities related to obtaining information for stories will go to trial

Prince Harry's phone hacking claims against The Sun's publisher have been thrown out by a judge, Mr Justice Fancourt. The judge also dismissed Harry's claim of a 'secret agreement' between Buckingham Palace and the Press, stating that it was implausible. The ruling was hailed as a 'significant victory' by The Sun's publisher.

Prince Harry outside the High Court in June to give evidence against Mirror Group Newspapers. He lost his phone hacking claim against The Sun today

However, the High Court judge granted Prince Harry the right to continue suing the newspaper for other alleged illegal activities related to obtaining information for stories. A trial on these matters is scheduled to take place in January of the following year.

The judge ruled that Prince Harry's case did not meet the necessary threshold of plausibility and cogency. He had launched the claim in 2019, alleging that his phone and those of his friends had been hacked by the now-defunct News of the World and The Sun between 1996 and 2011.

While Harry's phone hacking claims have been dismissed, the High Court judge granted him the right to continue suing the newspaper for other alleged illegal activity to find information for stories

The publisher, News Group Newspapers, argued that Harry's claim was time-barred because claimants have six years to initiate legal action after becoming aware of the alleged activity. The judge agreed with the newspaper's stance, stating that Harry knew about the potential hacking by September 2013, and therefore the time had expired when he started his claim in 2019.

Prince Harry's lawyer David Sherborne arrived at the High Court today ahead of the judgment

Prince Harry argued that the reason for the delay in bringing his case sooner was due to a 'secret agreement' between senior courtiers at Buckingham Palace and newspaper executives. He claimed that this agreement stated he and Prince William would not bring legal claims until other litigation had been settled. However, the judge deemed Harry's claims about the secret deal to be implausible and lacking any supporting evidence.

In the ruling, the judge noted that Harry's new case was inconsistent with his original case, further weakening his claims.

It is worth noting that actor Hugh Grant is also suing the same newspaper group, but the phone hacking elements of his case were also thrown out by the same judge earlier that year.